75 Years: The Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Imperial Japanese Navy carried out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time, Dec. 7, 1941. The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan and called Japan’s act a “deliberate deception.” Congress approved his proclamation, and soon after, the U.S. officially entered WWII. Smoke pours from the USS Shaw, right, while in the foreground is the capsized mine layer Oglaga. To the left is the damaged cruiser USS Helena.

UPPA/Photoshot/Newscom

The Imperial Japanese Navy carried out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time, Dec. 7, 1941. The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan and called Japan’s act a “deliberate deception.” Congress approved his proclamation, and soon after, the U.S. officially entered WWII. Smoke pours from the USS Shaw, right, while in the foreground is the capsized mine layer Oglaga. To the left is the damaged cruiser USS Helena.

UPPA/Photoshot/Newscom

Disregarding the dangerous possibilities of explosions, American sailors bring their boats right alongside the burning battleship West Virginia to better fight the flames, on Dec. 7, 1941, in Hawaii.

UPPA/Photoshot/Newscom

USS Shaw exploded during the Japanese raid of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

UPPA/Photoshot/Newscom

Smoke rises from Hickam Field in the distance during the attack on Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Dec. 7, 1941.

Photoshot/Newscom

Sailors attempt to save a burning PBY amphibious aircraft during the Japanese raid on Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941.

U.S. Navy and Heritage Command/Handout via REUTERS

A Marine rifle squad fires a volley over the bodies of 15 officers and men killed at Naval Air Station Kanoehe Bay, Hawaii, on Dec. 8, 1941.

U.S. Navy/National Archives/Handout via Reuters

American ships burn during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo.

AP Photo

In this photo provided by the Department of Defense, U.S. aircraft destroyed as a result of the Japanese bombing on Pearl Harbor is shown, Dec. 7, 1941.

AP Photo

Torpedoed and bombed by the Japanese, the battleship USS West Virginia begins to sink after suffering heavy damage, center, while the USS Maryland, left, is still afloat in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. The capsized USS Oklahoma is at right.

U.S. Navy/ AP Photo

In this Dec. 7, 1941, file photo, students of the Lunalilo High School in the Waikiki district of Honolulu watch their school burn after the roof of the main building, at center, was hit by a bomb during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

AP Photo

A billow of smoke in the Japanese attack on Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor, U.S. Air base near Honolulu, Dec. 7, 1941.

AP Photo

In this undated file photo, wreckage identified by the U.S. Navy as a Japanese torpedo plane was salvaged from the bottom of Pearl Harbor following the surprise attack Dec. 7, 1941.

AP Photo

The wreckage of a drug store smolders at Waikiki after attack by Japanese planes, Dec. 7 1941.

AP Photo

A mass of twisted metal wreckage lay along a Honolulu street after the city had been attacked by Japanese planes, Dec. 7, 1941.

AP Photo

In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over into the sea during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

AP Photo

Officers' wives seeing smoke pall in distance, Dec. 7, 1941. An Army hostess who took this picture says, "There are red circles on those planes overhead. They are Japanese!"